Texas gubernatorial election sparks data center construction risks, dragging down AI stocks

AI-related stocks and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped broadly overnight, weighed down by the Democratic victory in the Texas gubernatorial race and the looming risk of a data center construction moratorium. CoreWeave dropped 7%, while SpaceX and Oracle fell 6% and 4%, respectively, as the governor-elect publicly supported a freeze on AI data centers. With Texas accounting for 27% of planned data center power capacity across the United States, coupled with growing concerns over slowing tech giant capex, markets are turning wary of the ripple effects tighter local policies could have on compute infrastructure expansion.